Councils Keeping Tabs using Counter Surveillance

According to a report in the Telegraph, a spot of counter-surveillance may be in order amidst reports that council spy cases top 1000 a month. A trip to a spy shop for bug detectors and counter surveillance may reveal spying.

Council Keeping Tabs

According to the report in the Telegraph, councils around the UK rack up 1000 cases of spying on civilians per month, predominantly to investigate petty offences such as littering and under age smoking. Spy technology and counter surveillance is increasingly advanced, so, in most cases, the people committing these misdemeanours won’t know that they are under observation. As such, many may think a shopping list filled with counter surveillance equipment may be the only way to pick up on this invasion of privacy by councils in London and across the country.

Widespread Snooping

According to the report in the Telegraph, the extent of council’s spying regimes only recently came to light after the Dorset Council admitted to spying on a family for two weeks after they suspected them of lying on a school application form. Whilst councils may not be employing James Bond style super-sleuths equipped with the latest spy technology like listening devices and hidden spy cameras, they are using spies to gather information on various people up and down the country.

You won’t be likely to see a council employee in a spy shop in London stocking up on spy technology but as they are spying on the public using legislation that was implemented to tackle terrorism, there are a number of groups who are concerned about the privacy implications associated with the extent to which councils are spying on the residents.

Counter Surveillance Culture

The term ‘Big Brother is watching’ may never have been so apt as it is today given the sheer amount of spy equipment that is used to keep tabs on the population and the revelation in the Telegraph that spying on residents is rife amongst councils up and down the country. Whilst councils may not be utilising spy cameras, listening devices and buying all the stock off the shelves, it may not be long before we are reaching for the counter surveillance equipment just to protect our most rudimentary level of privacy.